A food blog written by a professionally trained chef, husband and father to three boys and a girl. Posts include all original recipes from my catering, private dining and personal chef events, and meals that receive the highest praise from the toughest critics – my wife and kids.

Baby Back Ribs with Tangy Homemade BBQ Sauce

Summer means grilling and grilling means ribs. I know I have a lot of rib recipes on this site but I’m always trying something different with one of my favorite foods. This time around, I decided to mess with the sauce a little bit. I wanted something that had a little fruity tang so I added some marmalade and a juicy, fresh, nectarine to the sauce. The slightly sweet sauce with a little acidic bite from the apple cider vinegar balanced out the rich and decadent ribs. The slight change in sauce flavor made for a completely different and delicious taste! Besides tasting delicious, my favorite part about these ribs was the manner in which I prepared them. Ribs typically aren’t a quick weeknight meal, but by using an old restaurant and catering preparation technique, I was able to make them into an easy workday dinner! I cooked the ribs low and slow in the oven for 4 – 5 hours, like I wrote in the recipe, but once they were cooked, instead of taking them straight to the grill, I cooled them down and then refrigerated them. When I got home from work the next day, all I had to do was fire up the grill, brush them with sauce and grill for a few minutes until they were hot throughout. By adjusting my preparation and thinking ahead a bit, I was able to turn low and slow, juicy and succulent baby back ribs into a quick weeknight meal!

I cooked these a day ahead of time and then sauced them and grilled until hot throughout.